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All Samuil has to do is grab the back of Georgi’s chair and start to drag him out, the legs of the chair screeching against the floor as he starts to whimper.
“W-wait! Wait, no—I don’t know where he is! Iswear!”
His cries go unheeded. I’m sure my brother won’t kill him—it’s one of Sandra’s policies. Since our family joined with the Antonovs, we’ve had a very strictmurder-freerule set in place unless it’s to save a family member’s life. But she never said anything about shelling out strategically placed, painful bruises.
Not that they know that, though.
“Stop it!” Vlad exclaims. “Leave him alone. He doesn’t know anything!”
He’s an exposed nerve, and now it’s time to stab him where it hurts. “But you do, don’t you.” It’s a statement, not a question.
“Don’t say anything,” Kostya warns.
“It isn’t fair, is it?” I continue. “Your brother gets to go free, spend his fortune while you three will be six feet underground come morning.”
“Shut up!”
I approach Vlad slowly, pinning him with my glare. “Is that what you want? A coffin instead of a Christmas present?”
“C-Come on, Leo, let’s just… We’ve got families to think about.”
“And I don’t?” I ask coldly. “Let me ask you this: if I stole fromyourfamily, what would you do?”
“I… I’d…”
Kostya lurches in his seat, but he doesn’t get very far. “Vlad, for the love of God,stop talking.”
“I’m a reasonable man,” I say. “Always have been. I think I proved that with your early Christmas bonuses. We just want the money back. It’d be too much of a hassle to dig four unmarked graves. Besides, I don’t want to welcome in the new year by killing you and your brothers.”
Vlad visibly swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing harshly. “The money. That’s really all you want?”
I shrug a shoulder. “That, and your heartfelt apology. Oh, also, you’re all fuckingfired, but yes. The money’s all we want.”
“St. Petersburg.”
Beside us, Kostya hisses. “Dammit, Vlad! You had one job!”
I arch a brow. “St. Petersburg? What’s he doing all the way up there?”
“Look, don’t hurt him, okay? He didn’t even want to go through with the idea. It was all me. He’s got his wife and kids there. Living with a cousin of hers.”
“Do you have an address?”
“Yes, but…Swearyou won’t hurt them.”
“I don’t hurt women or children.”
“And Arman?”
“I’m inclined to forgive him. After we’ve had a talk.”
Kostya throws his head back and groans. “They’re going to kill us. They’re straight up going to kill us, you blubbering idiot.”
“They were going to kill us if we didn’t say anything. At leastthisway, we have a chance.”
I have no idea what’s come over me lately, but I chalk it up to Nikita’s influence. I place a hand over my heart. “You have my word. No harm will come to any of you.”
Vlad’s head drops forward, a heavy sigh dragging itself from his lungs. “Fine. Fine, I’ll tell you where he is.”
